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Monday, November 30, 2009

The secret of Monday's, especially after a hard Saturday, is the willingness to run as slow as you can stand it. That's exactly what I did this morning. I rambled for 63 minutes, thought briefly about going to 65 and put the breaks on and promptly stopped. I ran in the no pain mode which meant that I ran so slow that jogger-slugs on the track were blowing by me and walkers were gaining steadily.

It is what it is.

Wednesday

Cloudy, overcast sunless morning. Cold but no wind. I drifted up RR Tracks and over to the college. There was a group of students walking on the track. Another group was doing strides under the watchful eye of a coach. I stuck to the outside edge of the track and then rounded out my loops on the soccer field seeking a quiet uneventful run. All in all, 60 minutes of nada. It was a just do it sort of day.

Thursday

I didn't rush into work. I drove up to Forbes Mill and ran 60 minutes on the trails. It was sunny and cold but the weather began to warm up during my second loop. Ran into Debbie Brassfield (The Pink lady) and we ran together and talked. Hard to believe she is closing in on 50. She slowed her pace to run mine which as always was very slow. Enjoyable run. Cleared my head up nicely.

Saturday

I passed on a morning run and focused on the afternoon doodad at Gunn High School. It was in the low 50's but the wind died down as we showed up and then it was just hazy sun and perfect conditions. D and I ran a 22 minute warm up and then carved out a 20 minute AT run on an unmeasured course. I kept my HR in the low 170's throughout the effort but still wonder if this is really AT. We then went to the track and blasted 6 x 100 averaging in the 16's with the last one at 15.8. With a very slow warm down, the total was around 50 minutes.

Monday, November 23, 2009

I dawdled around this morning sipping coffee. No work this week. The Titanic is shutdown for Thanksgiving.

It was bright and sunny. Not too cool. I went out and ran (yes, ran) 63 minutes. My legs felt more than decent which was a big surprise given how I felt after Saturday's slash and burn workout at Gunn. I wore my tights anyway which kept my legs toasty. It tells me that I should give those compression tights a look see. I selected my usual course. Down the RR tracks and over to the college doing big loops around the soccer field and the track.

Wednesday

Rambled out of the house after 8 am (well, maybe a long time after 8 am) and did my usual. Legs were OK but not great. At the college I suffered the humiliation of being passed by a woman who was jogging in a workout outfit but carry her purse. She blitzed me good and simple. The only redeeming factor was that she was obviously breathing hard. I guessed she was late for a class because she did a hard left into the gym and pool area. Then there was the hefty girl on the track going by me laughing as she chatted with her boyfriend. I finally wandered off to the soccer field which was bereft of other runners and gave me peace of mind.

The weather was outstanding. Cool and sunny. Cooler than Monday but my gloves still came off about half way through the run as I warmed up.

Thursday

This morning I ran the traditional club 7 miler. I use to be able to blitz this in the 40's but today I got off slow, dropped to the back of the pack and ran with Danny and Dimitri. We ended up cutting the course short and running the old Farwell-Herriman gig. 4.68 miles. Luckily I had extra, reserve minutes in the cookie jar and covered my usual 60 minutes.

Saturday

It rained Friday so Saturday was blow dry city as the winds picked up and cleared the skies. I tested my achilles in the morning with a ten minute easy run. My achilles had been swollen on Friday but between icing and Advil it now seemed to be OK.

I came back in the early afternoon and met D over at Gunn. I decided to do a creating a load run. We warmed up for an easy 20 minutes and then launched into an out and back AT run of 18:30. No idea how far the course was but it was nice enough because it mostly consisted of bike and walking path with a wind in our face net downhill going out and a wind at our back gradual uphill coming back. Then we went to the track and ran 6 x 100 averaging 17 seconds (walking back to recover). The slowest was in the 18's and the fastest was in the 16's. I then slow jogged around to hit 60 minutes for the day.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Got up early Monday morning. It was cool and sunny. No wind at all. I drag-assed down the road for 65 minutes running as slow as I could. I could feel the effects of Saturday afternoon's workout. No way to escape it. I ran the RR Track to the college and did big loops around the soccer field and stadium sharing the place with a gym class that mostly walked and several Asian girls (One tall, one short) who walked and ran exactly alike (from behind). They changed me up because they were walking out separately for a time. Later, when they joined up I realized that they must be related. Sisters probably. Either that or they were taking "how to walk fast" classes from the same instructor.

Wednesday

I did my usually early morning 60 minute run heading up the RR tracks and then down to the college. "The Gym Class" was there walking the big loop around the track. Taller, Asian girl was also present hop stepping it up and down the stadium steps. As for me. I slogged along feeling a bit better than Monday but still leg weary. It could be the way I ate on Tuesday. I got off to a good start but didn't have lunch substituting snack food. Dinner was a filet mignon stake with a sweet potato and bread. The food was washed down by a glass of wine. My guess is that it was not enough to refuel my body but it sure tasted damn good.

I was going to go out for a shorter lunch run but voted against it. There is only one vote and I own it.

Thursday

I met Jake at Forbes. He was walking (recovering from a cold). I ran 60 minutes. I wore tights, long sleeves, a hat and gloves. Even though the sun was out it was near freezing in the shade along the trail and warmer down on the track where the sun could have its way.

Saturday

I didn't run this morning. I chose to go out in the early afternoon when it had warmed up a bit. The problem was that the wind had picked up too. Dimitri and I met at Gunn High School Track and warmed up for 20 minutes. It was cool, crisp with a pesky breeze. There were skinny flags flapping around at the top of the goal posts. They told us that the wind seemed to be coming in from the northwest.

The workout was varied. 200-300-400-200-300-200. Equal recovery.

It went 37-58-77-37-57-37. Truth be told, it was hard but my legs stayed strong and snappy. But when I was finished I was truthfully finished. I lunged around the track for a 10 minute warm down but I was done in.

Death by dying.

I walked out to the car feeling slightly sick . Not sick-sick but that nauseous feeling you get when you have pushed to the limit. A drive home, an energy bar and a hot shower followed by a seafood pasta dinner set me right again.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

I got up early and ran 65 minutes. It was all slow. I felt tired and a bit washed out. I feel like I am fighting off some sort of flu bug. The weather has turned. Low 40's but windless. I wore a ski cap and gloves. I probably could have worn tights. My legs were cold. Blocks of granite. Not good for running. However, I am very skilled at slowing down to whatever pace allows me to complete the workout.

I am beginning to realize that I am running on empty. It seems that I am either fighting off a cold or the flu and it is taking its toll. So far I have not come down sick so that is good news. I am going to back off for the next week or two and shorten my runs back to 45-50 minutes and keep them slow until I feel right again. Work isn't helping. Yes, I am still there. Despite all my bluster I am hanging in (by my neck). But I did meet with my boss and tell her that there needs to be an end date. Right now it looks like April of 2010.

Frankly, knowing that it gets deadly quiet between Thanksgiving and New Year, I may be able to squeak through but I am getting tired of just squeaking through.

Wednesday

I ran 50 minutes at lunch today. It was in the low 60's, sunny and with a slight quartering wind. For the first time in about a year I wore my HRM. I sailed along in the high 120's and low 130's for about the half the run and then picked it up so I was running in the low to mid 140's the rest of the way. The run felt good. Of course I am not so sure that mid to high 140's are 70% of max anymore. I will have to find out if I continue to use it.

Thursday

I met Jake over at Forbes in the morning and ran 50 minutes at an easy effort. Cutting back my running was a good idea. I am beginning to feel stronger again. I may have had a bug but I also exacerbated things last week by running a semi-hard effort on Thursday and coming back with 200's on Saturday. Jake ran hard last Thursday and then added in an extra 6 miles that evening. He told me that he wasn't right for a whole week. The message is clear.

Pick your day and make that your hard effort. The rest of your training days need to be easy.

Saturday

It threatened to be cold in the morning so I settled for a 15 minute shakedown run and met D at 1:30 PM at Gunn High School for our regular workout. We warmed up for 20 minutes and did a few striders.

The workout was a new one for me. 3 sets of 300-200 with an equal walk-jog afterward. The goal was to do the 300's in 63-64 and the 200's in around 40. It was sunny and cool with a slight breeze but the track was dead empty. We took off and ran the first 300 in a hair under 65. Then we walked 100 meters and jogged 200 meters launching into a 200 in 40 flat. The next set was 62-38. Much faster plus I felt much stronger. The last set was 61-37 with a sub 18 last 100. I jogged down for 10 minutes while D ripped off a 61 second 400 followed by a 46 second 300. So a good day for both of us.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Early morning 70 minute run over the college, seemingly endless loops and back home. My legs were tired from Saturday but responded well enough to bit faster than usual pace. I could feel the water spraying up as I ran the astro-turfed carpeted soccer field. The sun was up and warming the day but there was still a remnant of the cool night air. I wore a long sleeve top but could have escaped with a t shirt.

Wednesday

Tough run. Got out early but was tired and listless. I coaxed myself through the run by stopping often, walking now and then and generally drifting myself to 60 minutes of slow. Can't figure it out. Sleep has been good. Nothing hard since Saturday. Maybe it's not enough carbs. Will go down that road.

Thursday

After carbing up yesterday, I felt much better during my morning run at Forbes Mill. I ran total of 58 minutes including one up and back in 22:06. So all in all stronger.I had Oatmeal for breakfast after the run and pasta salad for lunch.

SaturdayCool and sunny. Slight breeze.

Over to WVC track early for some track work. I warmed up for 25 minutes, ran a few creaky striders and then went to the meat of the workout.